Background
Elizabeth G. Fergusson was born on February 3, 1737, at Graeme Park, the family estate in Horsham, Pennsylvania, the youngest child of Dr. Thomas Graeme and his wife, Ann Diggs.
Elizabeth G. Fergusson was born on February 3, 1737, at Graeme Park, the family estate in Horsham, Pennsylvania, the youngest child of Dr. Thomas Graeme and his wife, Ann Diggs.
Her mother, Ann, educated Elizabeth, teaching her to read and write, an advantage that most young girls in colonial America did not receive.
During 1764 - 1765 Fergusson was in London, where she met several leading literary and scientific figures. Her mother’s death in the latter year left her the mistress of Graeme Park, and she soon established something like a literary salon. Her translation of Fénelon’s Télémaque, made while she was recovering from her broken engagement, circulated in manuscript and gave her a certain literary reputation of her own. Her other writings of the period included a metrical version of the Psalms, a wide and lively correspondence, and a remarkable journal. Virtually none of her writings were published in her lifetime.
In April 1772 she married Henry H. Fergusson, who spent much of his time in England while she remained at Graeme Park, which she inherited later that year on the death of her father. During the American Revolution her husband was a loyalist, whereas she gave mild support to the Whig cause.
In October 1777 Fergusson’s husband prevailed upon her to carry from the Reverend Jacob Duché to General George Washington a letter urging Washington to surrender. Washington chided her for her part in the episode. She later carried to Joseph Reed, Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress and aide to Washington, an offer of 10, 000 guineas for help in obtaining peace terms advantageous to Britain. Fergusson’s role in these proceedings brought her trouble. Her husband had already been attainted and proscribed, and late in the war Graeme Park was confiscated. Although it was restored to her in 1781, she lost it through financial reverses in 1791. Her last years were difficult. Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson died on February 23, 1801, at Graeme Park, Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth Fergusson had many admirable qualities - intellectual culture, taste, sincere piety.
When Elizabeth was seventeen, she met, and later began courting, William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin. The two were engaged in 1757. William moved to England to study law, and the couple's relationship became strained. A miscommunication had occurred and William believed the engagement had been broken, and he married another woman while in Britain, while Elizabeth thought the two were still engaged.
On April 21, 1772, Elizabeth Graeme married to Henry Hugh Fergusson, a Scotchman ten years younger than she.
Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson had two children.